


Like A Child's Lunch but for an Android

by Jak_the_ATAT



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Connor likes putting things in his mouth, Father-Son Relationship, Gavin the asshole, Hank is a Good Dad, Oral Fixation, Post-deviancy, cheerios
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 12:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20153605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jak_the_ATAT/pseuds/Jak_the_ATAT
Summary: Connor won't stop putting things in his mouth so Hank comes up with an idea: Connor should eat Cheerios.





	Like A Child's Lunch but for an Android

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first DBH fanfiction! Sorry in advance for any OOC moments.

"Connor! Don't put things in your mouth!" Was the first thing the precinct heard from Hank that morning aside from the angry grunts in place of a good morning.

"Sorry, Lieutenant." Connor spit out the Smarties piece he found on the floor. He had only been analyzing the ingredients of the Smartie **[dextrose, citric acid, calcium stearate, natural and artificial flavour, colors: red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 2; 1.67 calories to apiece]** and was pleased to find it still retained its chalky strawberry taste considering he estimated it had been left on the floor under a desk for about two weeks. Reaching down, he placed it exactly where he found it on the floor in the same position. 

"No! Connor! Throw it away!" Hank howled, causing Connor to frown. Nevertheless, he picked up the candy piece and put it into the trash can, then turned to Hank for approval. Instead, the older officer shook his head, making that guttural noise of disgust. "Fucking android," muttered Hank. "Eating off the floor like a toddler."

Connor cocked his head slightly, his eyebrows knitting. "I'm not a child, Hank. I'm an Android capable of retaining knowledge from thousands of years ago—"

"Whatever," Hank lulled. "Just don't put shit in your mouth." Reluctantly, Connor nodded and sat down at his desk. It had been some time since Hank pointed out and continued to point out Connor's thing for putting things in his mouth. Hank called it a disgusting quirk. Connor called it an oral fixation.

He went about mindlessly scanning files and searching for any cases that were worth his and Hank's time. Somewhere in the middle of the list, Connor realized that he was rolling a pen cap through his teeth subconsciously as he scanned. Quickly, he replaced the pen cap where it belonged, hoping Hank didn't notice he had been chewing it. 

Unfortunately, Hank caught him. "This is the sixth pen you've chewed up in a week," Hank muttered, taking away the damaged pen. "What is it with you and putting things in your mouth?"

"Analyzing a substance in my mouth helps me find ingredients that may not be as noticeable or will be missed by a basic forensics test. When I am not testing evidence, I find having something in my mouth rather soothing. Additionally, it keeps me from becoming bored, and lowers my stress level."

"You're stressed right now?"

"My stress level is higher than it should be, though I cannot seem to locate the source of my stress."

"I see..." Hank sighed. "So putting things in your mouth helps keep you calm..."

"Correct."

"Great. I got an Android with anxiety unless he's chewing something."

"I beg to differ—"

"Whatever. Come with me." Hank stood up. "I'm gonna get you some food."

"That's very considerate of you, Lieutenant, but I do not eat."

"Then analyze some food for me. It'll save my pen caps." The android trailed behind Hank as they crossed the precinct, one eyebrow slightly raised with curiosity. Hank brought Connor to the break room and drew a Cheerios box. "Eat one and tell me what's in it."

Curiously, Connor scanned the Cheerio. He could see the list of ingredients but part of him wondered if Hank rigged it and slipped another ingredient in. So he popped it in his mouth. "This Cheerio contains while grain oats, modified corn starch, sugar, salt, Tripotassium Phosphate, wheat starch, and Vitamin E from mixed tocopherols."

"Yeah, okay, I completely understood that." He did? Connor didn't have time to question farther because Hank pushed on with a question. "What do you think of the Cheerio?"

This one took a little longer for Connor to answer. "I can see why humans like these. The blend of ingredients and chemicals combined together quite well. However, they are not the healthiest choice of food to continuously eat--"

Hank grunted, his eyes half-closed as he stared at Connor. "Forget what humans think. Tell me what you think about them."

Connor thought for a minute, turning the words over and over in his head. "They send a sensation to my body that I cannot comprehend properly. But it's not a bad sensation. I enjoy the satisfying sound it makes when I chew it. And the flavour is enhanced once it is soft enough to be properly digested."

"...Androids have saliva?"

"No. It's empirical we do not alter the results of whatever we are tasting with saliva. However, repetitive chewing helps soften food."

"Huh." Hank mused about that for a minute before he opened the box again and gave Connor a small handful. "Here, have some more if you want. They're better than swallowing pen caps and eating stuff off the floor anyway." And Connor didn't object. He ate them one by one while Hank poured a bowl of Cheerios. "Actually just take this bowl. Maybe you'll stop biting things around the office."

Eagerly, Connor took the bowl. He followed Hank out of the break room and back to his desk. And for the rest of the day, Connor nibbled away at his Cheerios while he worked and Hank's pens remained gnaw free. 

* * *

The Cheerios worked. Not only did Connor stop putting random things in his mouth, but his stress levels stayed low throughout most of the day. He enjoyed the Cheerios so much Hank now packed him a small container of Cheerios every day, typically comparing it to "packing a child's lunch for school" as he did so.

The Cheerios became part of their routine. Every day, if they weren't out in the field, Hank would feed Connor some Cheerios. At 11:00 AM exact, Hank would give the container to Connor for a few minutes so the android could pick and choose his Cheerios (Connor always picked out eight Cheerios in the morning). Depending on how busy Connor was in the morning, he would either eat the few Cheerios immediately or he would entertain himself by spinning the Cheerios across the desk or playing bowling with them by standing up the cheerios and flicking his finger on the bowling ball Cheerio. The same deal would be repeated at 02:00 PM and 05:30 PM.

However, the Cheerios brought a new kind of trouble. Connor's advanced hearing allowed him to pick up the remarks other officers made about his obsession with Cheerios, particularly Detective Reed, whose loud mouth refused to shut up. "Look at Detective Anderson's plastic pet, trying hard to be human by eating." "Didn't the Lieutenant ever teach him to never play with his food?" "Bet his replacement is getting readings on how to eat everything so humans aren't just losing their jobs to androids, they're losing their food as well." The other officers typically paraphrased what Reed said.

At first, Connor could easily ignore what they said and pretend he didn't care. But when three weeks hit and the insults and microaggressions showed no signs of stopping, the comments began to get under his skin, then to his heart, if he could call his thirium pump a heart.

And so one day, when Hank handed in the Cheerios at exactly 11:00 AM, Connor pushed the container away. "I don't want to eat them today, Lieutenant."

Hank frowned. "Waddya mean you don't want them? I packed them for you!"

"I'm sorry." He considered elaborating why but chose against it.

"Something on your mind, son?"

Connor hesitated. Was Hank just guessing or did he actually suspect something in Connor's mind? Well, Hank wasn't a detective for no reason. Still, Connor chose to lie. "It's nothing concerning. Our investigation is very important and I think eating while working would only distract me."

Hank shook his head and removed the box from the desk, putting it back in his pocket. "Alright, but if you're hungry or need something to chew, let me know."

"I will." And Connor went back to work.

He thought he would be fine throughout the day. But within two hours, he missed having something in his jaws. Connor found himself starting to get fidgety. The coin had come out of his pocket and he flipped it about mindlessly. His stress level had been ever so slowly crawling up and he longed for a Cheerio or something in his mouth to help him. But he wouldn't eat. Not when everyone kept making remarks about him like that. He stilled his body and threw his focus into the computer, but only for a moment. Once again, his focus went to Hank's pocket, the pocket that held the Cheerios.

He must have done something to set Hank off somehow because the older lieutenant stood up. "Connor, come with me," He said. Connor stood up, suddenly realizing he had a pen in his hand halfway up to his mouth. He quickly placed it on the desk and followed Hank, hearing a few remarks about him being Hank's plastic shadow.

In the break room, Hank leaned against one of the coffee tables and Connor copied across from him. "Alright, kid. I don't know what's going on with you but you haven't been acting like yourself today. What's going on?"

"I assure you, detective," Connor said, pleased with how steady his voice was so far. "It is nothing of your concern. Only a minor inconvenience to my wiring." Minor inconvenience... meaning a fucking withdrawal from Cheerios in less than a day. Do androids have withdrawals? Apparently deviant androids. 

"Do I need to bring you to a mechanic or something? CyberLife?"

"That won't be necessary. Especially not CyberLife."

"Then tell me what's going on. Your LED has been flicking between yellow and red all morning." Hank took out the container of Cheerios and opened them. "Here, have one of these."

The Cheerios were tempting. Connor wanted them but he could still hear the remarks the other officers made in the back of his head. And even though his hand slipped towards the container ever so slightly, he pulled it back and dropped it to his side. "Androids don't eat," he said. "I do not need the Cheerios."

Hank huffed. In hopes of convincing Hank away from his predicament, Connor shot a reassuring smile. But he could see Hank wasn't fazed. "Someone insulted you for eating Cheerios and you became insecure, that right? Was it Reed?"

Well, shit. Was it that obvious? Connor looked down. "Correct." It felt like such a stupid reason to him. Why would he, an android meant to be one of the most advanced pieces of technology—a machine—become insecure about his odd little habits?

"Ah, Jesus Christ, Connor. Just because someone says something about you doesn't mean you should let them get to you." 

Connor wouldn't look up at Hank. He was too embarrassed; too ashamed to admit how flawed he was. How the hell was an android supposed to have insecurity? His program was supposed to go against that... _human issue._

Hank was still going on about something but Connor couldn't get his auditory processor to work fast enough to comprehend what he was saying beyond phoneme sounds. Too many thoughts clogged his brain, forcing him to fall into standby mode for a moment to clear his head. And when Hank stopped talking, Connor just nodded, knowing it was better than admitting he hadn't been listening.

"Connor," Hank said, his voice finally returning to Connor's ears. "Your LED is going crazy between twirling yellow and red. How much stress are you at right now?"

Connor quickly evaluated himself. "My stress level has risen from 58% to 69% in the past three minutes."

"What the hell are you stressed about?"

He had no idea. No matter how much Connor searched himself for an answer, he ended up with an **Error: no response found. **He even ran a quick diagnostic. **All systems stable. **"I... don't know..."

He watched Hank brush a hand over his beard. "Look, I know these Cheerios soothe you. You said it yourself. Have at least one."

"Androids do not need to eat—"

"Cut the crap with the excuses." Hank pushed the open container a little closer. "Have at least one. For my sake if nothing else."

All the cruel remarks he heard scrolled through his head, Detective Reed's being the loudest. Yet still, he obeyed Hank. He took one and put it in his mouth, trying not to enjoy it. But he did. And he felt his stress level drop to 68%, then 67%, and then a small jump to 64%.

"Feel better?" Hank asked.

"Yes. Thank you." Connor closed the container and pushed it towards Hank.

Hank just pushed it back. "Keep it in your pocket so you can eat whenever you want." 

Connor nodded and took the container, slipping it into his pocket. He gave a small smile towards Hank, who just returned it with one of his half-drunk grins. "We should get back to work," Connor said. "This investigation will not solve itself."

Hank chuckled. "No, not it will not." Patting Connor on the shoulder, Hank's hand lingered on his back for a bit as he guided Connor out of the break room, not that Connor needed guidance. Still, the comfort calmed Connor and his stress level continued to drop. 

From then on, Connor kept the container and ate exactly on schedule, usually making sure no one else but Hank was looking before he dug into his pocket. Sometimes he even gave a few Cheerios to Hank, who then insisted Connor teach him how to pull all those Cheerio tricks.

Perhaps Hank was right. Perhaps he didn't have to listen listen to everyone who wouldn't understand what a magnificent treat the Cheerio was. Perhaps it was worth it to do things for himself regardless of judgement. It sounded strange to not consider the judgement for others. It almost ran like sandpaper against his coding. And yet the idea thrilled Connor the more he thought about it.

He might as well try. What did he have to lose anyway?

**Author's Note:**

> It may be time to say I've never played the game. I don't have a console so I've just watched a lot of YouTube videos and some streams of people playing the game. However, I was impressed by the storyline so of course, here I am, exploring the fandom. 
> 
> Please review and/or comment!


End file.
